DETROIT -- Niko Goodrum wasn't planning on watching his highlight catch from Tuesday's 6-3 loss to the White Sox on repeat. He saw it on the giant video board in left field as he picked himself up off the ground, having robbed Avisail Garcia of a seventh-inning bloop single. Then, a friend texted him a link to the video clip.
"I'll probably look at it then, and that's it," he said.
He wasn't underplaying it, so to speak. He was serious.
"I guess we don't really think about it," he explained. "We're just trying to get outs. We know what we did as far as diving for it and making a play, but we don't really sit back and say, 'Oh, man, that was a great play.' We're trying to just get outs."
His teammates were a little more excited for him.
"I'm gonna be honest with you: That was unbelievable," first baseman Jim Adduci said. "I only saw him dive. I had to look at the replay."
His catch was one of 15 straight outs the Tigers recorded from the fifth inning through the ninth to stay within striking distance, but it was certainly the prettiest. And on a night when the Tigers paid for several chaotic plays in the first inning, it was a badly-needed catch of the night.
Shortstop Jose Iglesias is the Tiger better known for highlight-reel catches running out into short left field, but Goodrum's initial read sent him sprinting from second base. Garcia's softly-hit ball off Buck Farmer traveled a projected 204 feet, according to Statcast™, with a 69 percent hit probability. Goodrum read it perfectly and took off, bolting around Iglesias and stretching out for the grab.
"Off the bat, I figured I had a play on it," he said, "so I was just trying to go out and make a play. It called for me to dive for it, and I was able to bring it in."
Just to make sure the umpires knew he caught it, he showed his glove.
It was a rare play for Goodrum on the left side of the field. Iglesias usually blankets that territory, while Goodrum has made some quality catches behind first base.